Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have given CNQ a consensus rating of Moderate Buy across 12 brokerages (six Buy, six Hold) with an average 12‑month price target of $57.00.
• Canadian Natural beat quarterly estimates—EPS $0.59 vs. $0.53 and revenue $6.89B vs. $6.64B—reporting a 24.48% net margin and 17.84% ROE, and sell‑side analysts forecast about $2.45 in EPS for the fiscal year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.625 (annualized $2.50), a 5.5% yield with a payout ratio near 49.6%, and institutional investors own roughly 74% of the shares.

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CNQ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNQ opened at $45.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $45.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.27. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $27.20 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34. The firm has a market cap of $95.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37 and a beta of 0.53.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 17.84%. The firm had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.625 per share. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 20th. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 146,331,336 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $4,956,204,000 after purchasing an additional 35,067,143 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,305,198 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,160,340,000 after purchasing an additional 818,809 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 42,745,981 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,446,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342,954 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,621 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $710,119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,308,539 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $484,344,000 after purchasing an additional 260,746 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited NYSE: CNQ is a Calgary-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Established in the early 1970s and publicly listed in Canada and the United States, the company is principally engaged in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its asset base spans conventional and unconventional reservoirs and includes oil sands mining and in-situ thermal projects, midstream processing and upgrading capacity, and related field operations.

The company's operations are concentrated in Western Canada, where it develops heavy crude, bitumen from oil sands and conventional light crude and natural gas resources.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.